Safety razor with adjustable blade exposure



J. MUROS 3,056,199 SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE EXPOSURE Oct. 2,1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 17, 1960 FIG. 2

FIG. I

INVENTOR. JOSEPH MUROS J. MUROS 3,056,199 SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLEBLADE EXPOSURE Oct. 2, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 17, 1960 FIG. 4

FIG. 8

| 1 r I l ll IN V EN TOR. JOSEPH MUROS 3,056,199 Patented Oct. 2, 19623,056,199 SAFETY RAZOR WITH ADJUSTABLE BLADE EXPOSURE Joseph Muros,Newtonville, Mass., assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass., acorporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 9,227 7 Claims.(Cl. 30-605) This invention relates generally to safety razors and moreparticularly to safety razors having means for adjusting the edgeexposure of the blade in accordance with the requirements or preferenceof the user.

The invention is herein shown as embodied in safety razors of the typeemploying a sectional cap in combination with a guard or otherblade-supporting member for the purpose of clamping a thin flexibleblade between them in shaving position. When thus clamped the blade istransversely curved and its edge projects beyond a line tangent to thecap and guard by a distance known as the edge exposure of the blade.This edge exposure may be safely varied within certain limits and manyusers desire to adjust their razors in accordance with their ownindividual preferences.

The present invention provides particularly convenient means foreffecting this blade edge exposure adjustment, and preferably in acalibrated manner such that the user may readily see the extent ofadjustment which he wishes to make and tell at a glance the adjustedcondition of his razor. To that end, an important feature of theinvention consists in a transversely movable slide having a profiledstop surface and being movable in the handle of the razor to differentpositions which will determine the clamping action of the cap and guardmembers and the degree of curvature imparted by them to the interposedblade.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of several preferredembodiments thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown inthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a View of a complete razor in longitudinal section and on aconsiderably enlarged scale;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation, taken at right angles to thatof FIG. 1, partly in section;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in longitudinal section similar to that ofFIG. 1 illustrating in an exaggerated manner the relative positions ofthe blade clamping elements when the razor is adjusted for maximum edgeexposure;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing an adjusting slideof modified construction;

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 and showing an adjusting slideof still another modified construction;

FIG. 7 is a view in elevation taken at right angles to that of FIG. 6;and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view on the line 8-8 of FIG. 6.

The razor selected to illustrate the adjusting mechanism of my inventionincludes in its structure a tubular handle 10 to the upper end of whichis rigidly attached a hollow handle extension 11. This extension tapersslightly upwardly and carries the blade-clamping parts of the razor aswill presently appear. The handle 10 is provided near its lower end withan internal annular rib 12 which makes rotary connection with a matingannular groove in an internally threaded nut 13. The nut is in threadedengagement with the lower end of a spindle 14 which passes upwardlythrough the hollow handle extension 11. The spindle is provided with anupper shoulder 15 and a lower shoulder 16 Within the confines of thehandle extension 11. The blade support or guard member 17 is rigidlysecured to the upper end of the handle extension 11 and presents anupwardly convex blade supporting surface with rounded marginal guard.

The upper end of the spindle 14 is forked and fixed in the fork is a topcarrier bar 18 of a spider including at each end a cross bar 19 to whichthe cap sections 20 are pivotally connected. These cap sections aretransversely concave and cooperate with guard member 17 in transverselycurving and clamping the flexible blade 21 between them. Safety razorshaving a blade clamping mechanism as described up to this point aredescribed in more detail in my prior US. Patents Nos. 2,644,229, datedJuly 7, 1953, and 2,009,272, dated July 23, 1935, to which reference maybe had for further details of construction and manner of operation.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4 of the drawings, it will be seen that thehandle extension 11 is channeled on both sides to form channels 23 thatexpose a portion of the spindle 14 between the shoulders 15 and 16thereof. In the channels 23 thus provided is fitted a transverselymovable U-shaped slide 22 having a profiled upper surface which supportsthe spindle 14 by engaging beneath its upper shoulder 15. As shown inFIGS. 2 and 4, the profiled upper surface of the slide is stepped havinga low portion marked L and a high portion marked H. In FIGS. 2 and 4,the low portion L of the slide engages the upper shoulder 15 of thespindle 14. In order to bring the higher stop surface of the slide intooperative position, the slide is moved as indicated in FIG. 2 from thefull line position therein shown to the dotted line position. The slide22 is open at its outer end and is of sufliciently resilient material tobe sprung and forced into operative relation with the spindle 14, beingbiased thereafter to embrace the spindle between its arms so that it isfrictionally retained in its adjusted position.

The construction shown in FIG. 5 corresponds with that above describedexcept that in this case the slide 32 has its upper stop surfaceuniformly inclined, running from its lower end where the slide is markedL through an intermediate or regular position to its higher end markedH. The slide 32 may be adjusted transversely and will be yieldingly heldin whatever position of adjustment it may be placed by the user.

The construction shown in FIGS. 6-8 is similar to that described inconnection with FIGS. 14 except that in this embodiment the resilientand adjustable slide 32' is provided with internal detents 33 whichlimit the movement of the slide to two adjusted positions and of whichthe intermediate detent clicks in being forced past the spindle 14. Itwill be observed also that in this embodiment the slide 32' is mountedin a transverse aperture 34 in the handle extension 11 rather than inthe external channels shown in FIGS. 1-4, 5 although in both cases theslide is U-shaped and resiliently engages opposite sides of the spindle14.

It will be understood that by turning the nut 13 the spindle 14 with itsspider and cap sections 20 are drawn downward, and the cap sections flexthe blade 21 over the guard 17 into positions of more and morecurvature. At the lower limit of spindle movement the blade has itsmaximum curvature and its cutting edge has minimum edge exposure assuggested in FIG. 1. Under these conditions the position of the spindleis determined by the engagement of the spindle shoulder 15 with the lowportion of the profiled face of the slide 22. The slide 22 is free formovement only while the nut 13 is reversely turned and pressure on theblade relaxed. Now, when the slide is advanced to bring the high portionof its profiled face beneath the shoulder 15 of the spindle, the spindlecan be drawn down a lesser amount, as suggested in an exaggerated degreein FIG. 3, less curvature is imparted to the blade 21 and it istherefore clamped with a maximum degree of edge exposure. It will beunderstood that the separation between the cap sections 20 and the guard17 has been greatly exaggerated in FIG. 3 for purposes of illustrationand that in actual practice the blade is firmly held between the capsections and the guard but with a lesser amount of curvature than withthe razor adjusted for minimum exposure.

Having thus described my invention with particular reference toillustrative embodiments thereof, it will be obvious to those skilled inthe art to which the invention pertains that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. An adjustable safety razor comprising a tubular handle having at itsupper end a hollow extension carrying a convexguard member, a spindlemovable within the handle and the hollow extension and having a shoulderlocated within the extension, a stepped slide mounted in the extensionfor transverse movement therein engageable by the shoulder of thespindle, concave cap sections carried by the spindle, and meansconnected with the spindle for moving the cap sections intoblade-clamping position adjustably determined by the position of saidstepped slide.

2. An adjustable safety razor as defined in claim 1, furthercharacterized in that the hollow extension has a channel thereinexposing the shouldered portion of the spindle and that the steppedslide is transversely movable in said channel in engagement with thespindle.

3. An adjustable safety razor as defined in claim 1, furthercharacterized in that the hollow extension is channeled on both sides ofthe spindle and that the said slide is U-shaped and yieldingly embracesthe spindle between its arms.

4. An adjustable safety razor comprising cooperating blade-clampingmembers, a movable spindle carrying one of said members, a handleenclosing the spindle and carrying the other member, and a U-shapedslide movably mounted in the handle, resiliently engaging the spindleand having a profiled stop surface and a series of corresponding detentsdefining the settings of the slide.

5. An adjustable safety razor as defined in claim 4, furthercharacterized in that the handle includes a hollow extension aperturedto receive and partially enclose the said U-shaped slide and guide itsadjusting movement.

6. An adjustable safety razor as defined in claim 4, furthercharacterized in that the U-shaped slide is resilient whereby it may besprung over the spindle and is biased to embrace the spindle withyielding pressure.

7. An adjustable razor comprising cooperating bladeclamping members, amovable spindle carrying one of said members, a handle enclosing thespindle and carrying the other member and blade edge exposurecontrolling means movably mounted in the handle and having a profiledstop surface and means connected with the spindle for bringing saidblade-clamping members into and out of blade-clamping relation, thespindle including stop means engageable with the profiled stop surfaceto limit the blade clam-ping movement of the spindle in accordance withthe position of the blade edge exposure controlling means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,599,793 Schieren Sept. 14, 1926 1,966,193 Weber July 10, 19342,812,575 Abbott et al. Nov. 12, 1957 2,848,806 Shnitzler et al Aug. 26,1958 2,885,993 Murphy May 12, 1959

